With today’s employers demanding more from graduates, a new survey of students and graduates on creative courses from Escape Studios has found that nearly two thirds of graduates believe they need extra preparation to pursue the career of their choice. While universities offer a life changing experience, helping young adults adjust to their new-found independence, the research shows they don’t have the resources to provide students with the tailored skills appropriate for every industry.

With recent reports revealing that the cost of undergraduate degrees could rise to £14,000 per year Independent review of higher education funding and student finance, November 2009 , 70% of creative graduates believe that they will need additional training to get the job they want. According to the Escape Studios survey, over one third of graduates went onto further study after leaving university – with 80% doing so because they needed more specialist skills than their degree course provided. In addition to this, just under half of these students (47%) and recent graduates (48%) said they didn’t find the career advice and preparation offered by their university relevant to their choice of career.

Not having enough industry experience after leaving university was the top concern shared by current students, followed by paying back debts and the lack of job vacancies available. Thirty per cent are not confident of finding any job within a year of graduating and nearly a third (32%) have either arranged or are considering further education to improve their chances.

“The education landscape has changed dramatically over the last few decades, and employers are more demanding of graduates – they want them to be productive from day one.” Explains Paul Wilkes, Recruitment Director at Escape Studios. “With universities looking after thousands of students it isn’t feasible for them to provide a better recruitment service than they already offer. The gap between what universities can deliver and what employers want has left room for academies like ours to focus on providing the specialist skills graduates need. It would be inconceivable for a university to develop close ties with each industry relating to the hundreds of courses it offers – because we’re extremely focused in what we do, we’ve managed to keep a close eye on the industry and pass on our knowledge to small classes of just 12 students.”

“Building a career in the creative industries, particularly CG, animation and gaming, is hard and relies on having both the right skills and access to the right contacts in the industry,” said Dominic Davenport, Escape Studios’ CEO. “Universities do a fantastic job when it comes to theories, research and helping students broaden their outlook, but this is not something we offer at Escape Studios – instead we provide specialist training on the software used by industry professionals and are dedicated to following their production techniques. Students are more worried about finding a job than their debts these days, that’s why we help our students with our valuable recruitment service and can harness our tight links to the industry to help our students find work with some of the major players in the field once they finish their course”

Adam Dewhirst, an Escape Studios’ graduate comments: “I studied graphic design at Camberwell College of Arts in London, when I left, I felt as though I hadn’t learnt any practical skills at all, and was struggling to find work, both 2D and 3D. I opted to take up one of Escape's much more hands-on Maya training courses and after three months I had gained the basic knowledge of 3D modelling and animation. A year later I was able to secure a job at the BBC and then go on to work on The Golden Compass, which won a Bafta and an Oscar for its visual effects – it was extremely rewarding and I couldn’t have done it without Escape Studios.”About the researchThe Escape Studios Survey questioned over 360 students and graduates from creative and CG related courses in May 2010.

About Escape StudiosEscape is one of the most successful and well-respected CG academies in the world. We’re the proving ground for a new generation of computer graphics stars breaking into film, TV, games and commercials. We’re a vibrant community of professional artists. We’re a unique outsourcing resource for leading CG studios. We’re a specialist creative recruitment agency for entertainment, advertising, architecture and manufacturing businesses. We’re an authority on all things CG, offering informed opinions on cutting-edge creative, commercial and political issues. We’re host of the acclaimed CG awards. We’re a specialist IT consultancy and technology store. We are all of these things. We are CG. We are Escape Studios.For further information, please visit www.escapestudios.com

I have to agree with this...I have a degree in Animation and Graphics and still no job. But one thing that I believe is an issue is that in school the programs chairs are not really connected to the industry leaders.

There should be more communication between the two as to what needs to be fixed or changed in the schools programs that would properly prepare them for jobs after leaving school. For me it was a good experience to get my degree and having to meet tight deadlines is really important in the industry from what I have been told.

Anyway I think it could go either way...I believe that education is still the way to go but some things need to change on both sides of the field...